ACLU sues over black man's arrest in suburban St. Louis

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union alleges in a lawsuit that a suburban St. Louis police department unlawfully arrested a black man as he walked in an affluent neighborhood.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the ACLU of Missouri filed the lawsuit Wednesday against the University City Police Department. The suit alleges that Clarence Graham's rights were violated when he was tackled and arrested in March 2016.

The 55-year-old Graham has done odd jobs for area residents for years. The lawsuit says that before his arrest, officers got a report of a suspicious black man peering into houses. Graham didn't match the dispatcher's description other than his race.

The charge against him was dismissed. University City Police Chief Larry Hampton didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from the Post-Dispatch.